Gas-engine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. M. ALLEN.

GAS ENGINE. v

Ng. 301,320. Patented July 1, 1884 Illllillllllllllllllllllll-llllllllllllll WITNESSES INVENTOREI ATTORNEYS;

(Nd Model.)

. 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. G. M. ALLEN.

GAS ENGINE.

. Patented July 1. 1884.

WITNESSES:

INVENTOR 57. lay/alum ATTORNEYS.

NITED STATES PATENT ()FricE.

' GAS-ENGINE;

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters that no. 301,320, dated July 1, 1884.

Application filed October 2, 1883. (No modelli- To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, GEORGE M. ALLEN, of Terrysville, in the county of Litchfield and State of Connecticut, have invented anew and Improved Gas-Engine, of which is a full, clear, and exact description. I

In my improved gas-engine I employ a work-- ing-cylinder in which the-piston is moved by the expansion of heated air and gases, and in connection therewith a compression-cylinder,

in whichair is compressed for supplying the working-cylinder. Gas is supplied to the cylinder at the same timethat the compressed air is allowed to enter, and the as-jet is ignited for heating and expandi g the air. There is no explosion, the engine being practically a hot-air motor, in which the gas is used in greater or less quantity, as may be required, and the air admitted is greatly in excess of that needed for the combustion of the gas, so that the temperature is perfectly under-control, and may be kept so low that the cylinder will need no water-jacket. 1 t

Reference is to behad to the accompanying drawings, forminga part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate, corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view, partly sectional, of my improved engine. Fig. 2 is a'partly sec 3o tional side elevation. Fig. 3 is an end view of the working-cylinder and the mechanism for operating the valve. Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the head of the working-cyh' inder and Fig.5 is a detail view. v A is the working-cylinder, B is the compression-cylinder, and G is the gas-feed pump. The two cylinders are placed in line and thepiston-heads a 2) connected upon one rod, 0, in the manner of a direct-acting engine. The com- 0 pression-cylihder B may be formed .with a water-jacket; or, if desired, this cylinder B may be used without any jacket.

d d are the slides, carrying a cross-head, e," which is made heavy, inorder that the veloc:

ity imparted to the cross-head during the first part of the stroke shall be suificient to nearly carry the compressing-piston to the end of the stroke without the aid of a fiy-wheel.

f is a connecting-rod,"forked to pass at op posite sides of the cylinder B, the forkedends the following- '.being connected to the cross-head cand the opposite end to a crank on the engine-shaftg. h is a rod operated bya crank on the shaft 9 and connectedto the valve-rod h, that operates the exhaust-valve i of the cylinder A.

k' is a rod' for operating the valves of the gas-pump 0 and induction-valves lof the cylinder A, and 1c is a connecting-rod from the valve-rod.- k V to a crank-pin on a pinion, m, which is operated by a sectional gear-wheel, n,-on' the shaft g. The compression-cylinder B is provided with inlet-valves a for admission of air, and with outlet-valves b ,for admitting air to a chamber, c, that is connected. to-a reservoir, D, in which compressed air is stored. The rod h, for operating the exhaustvalves t', is provided with arms h, through which the stems of the valves '5 pass,the stems beingprovided with a collar, against which the arms hact to open the valve, and between the arms h? and the collars on theouter ends of the stems are springs h against which the arms press in a direction forelosing the valve, so that when either valve is closed the arms h upon the spring serve to holdit'tightly to its seat. The induction-valves l Zare closed by springs upon their stems, and are connected in a similar manner to arms k projecting from the rod k. The rod 70 is also provided with downwardly-projecting arms k, which act upon leversd' for operating the valves u in the heads of thegas-pump The gas-pump is provided with a piston, a, that is operated y a reciprocating rod, n, connected to an cecentric, a, on the shaft From the ends of the gas-pump separate pipes plead into the ends of the cylinder A in front of the inductionrvalves Z, so that the gas-jet shall be mixed with the air entering the cylinder.

' q q are wires of anelectric circuit, which pass through insulating-tubes in the ends of the-cylinder A andacross the air and gas inlets. -These circuit-wires are ,to be connected to a suitable generator of electricity so that the portion at the gas-inlet, which is formed of platinum, may be heated to incandescence, for thepurpose of igniting the gas; or, in place of the electric'wires, a continuously-burning gas-jet may be employed. The rod k,operating the gas and. air valves, is fitted for move- I00 ment by the sectional gearing m'n, so that it quick opening and closing will be given to the valves and a pause between the two movements. The crank-pinion m is proportioned to the operating-gear: n so that theformer lution, thereby opening and 'closin g each valve in every revolution of the shaft.

For regulating the amount of gas supplied, to the cylinder, I employ a centrifugal-governor, E, which is connected to a rod, 1',whi eh in turn is :ittochcdto the connecting-rod n of the gas-pump G. The outer end of the rod n engages by a pin a vertical slot in a link, a, that is attached to a rock-shaft, s, which'also carries an arnns", that is connected to the cocentric 0, so that, the link being vibrated by the eccentric, the rod a and the piston a are reciprocatcd. The slot in the link 8 is con nccted at its upper end to across-slot, t,- in

ment, as the governor-balls rise the pin on the rod 1; is moved downward in the slot of the ll-Ilk s and inward to the rock-shaft 8, thereby shortening the movement of the piston a, and

thereby lessening the quantity'of gas forccd into thecylinder. \Vheu the ballsfall, the rod is carried upward and the motion increases until the pin enters the slot t,.wl1en the link -will vibrate without imparting motion to the piston, thus stopping the gas-pump entirely. In case the governor becomes disconnected i'ronrthc engine-shaft, the, pin connecting .the red at" to the link s will bc'carricd into the slot t, and the engine must stop. This arrangement has the further object to allow the pump (3 to be worked by means of a hand-lever, 0, when the engine is to be started. A suitable arrangement will be provided for depressing the rod a as soon as the engine starts, so as to insure the working of the pump until the balls of the governor have risen. This may be done by grasping the red at with the hand dire tly; or a small handle may be attached.

In the operation of the engine, the valvel at one end of cylinder A being opened, the

compressed air passes into the cylinder from the receiver, and at the same time, the valve 19 of thegas-pn1np being opened, the 'gas already compressed by the action .of the piston or enters the cylinder beneath the valvel and crosses thehcated platinum wire 1. The gas,bcing thus lighted, burns in the air entering the cylinder. After the piston a hascoinpleted a part of its stroke, the valve Z is closed, and the heated air and products of combustion expand until they reach atmospheric pressure. If this occurs before the end of the stroke is reached, the eduetion-valvc i is opened by the pressure oi the atmosphere, thus preventing any fursouzo ther decrease of pressure. The pump may feed gas alone or gas diluted with air, in whleh latter case there will be twoinduction-valves at each end of the pump, one for air and the other for gas. There is no explosion and practically no explosive mixture is admitted to the cylinder. The object of diluting the gas with airis to insure complete combustion, thus preventing a smoky flame, and also allowing the use of a larger pump, which will be more easyto regulate, and there .will be lcssgas left in the passages from the pump to theworking-cylinder The greater part of the air is admitted through the valve 1 from the receiver D, and this amount ofairv being largely in excess of that needed for the combustion of the so as to, prevent the. return of the-air should the pressure be increased by theburning of the gas. In place of gas, liquid hydrocarbons may be used. In that case the liquid is'to be placed in a vessel slightly elevated above the compressed-air reservoir, and: asmall tube passed from the bottomof the vessel will enter a'pi-pe which traverses the lengthof the-00m pressed-air reservoir, and so arran ed that any the vessel. This is in 'order that the heat evolved in the compression of ,theair will be utilized to vaporize the hydrocarbon; and the vapor, in passing through the length of the pipe, will become superheated, and may be. taken into the pump the samcas gas; or the liquid can be vaporized by utilizing thec: rhaust of the working-cylimlcr, if the temperature be hi gh.enough; or else a separate heater or similar means may be used for vaporizing the hydrocarbon. The exhaust from the workback-pressure will foreo the liqui back into ing-cylinder may be carried off by a pipe, or

may be allowed to escape directly from the cylinder-heads into the air. \Vhcn gas is to be discharged from the pump more or 'less mixed with air, the construction will be as shown in Fig. 5, and with this device the governor for regulating the stroke of the pumppiston may be dispensed with. This device IIO is applied in connection with the inlet-pipe of the gasrpump, and arranged so that the gas, on passing to the pump, enters at the opening a, aud,'passing through an aperture in a slide, 0, enters the pump through the opening b. The stem of, the slide a is connected with the governor, so that when thespeed'increases the slide is drawn up and d cercases the size of the passa so that less gas is drawn in in proportion o the air drawn into the pump through a separate air-valve; and in case-the governor becomes disengaged from the engine-shall, the slide 0 will drop .down and cut oil the supply of gas, thus stopping the engine. 4 v

Having thus fully described my invention,

.I claim as new Patentwhieh'consists i 11;. in a reseryoir,

. The method of operating" n'gas-engine,

n co n conducting the air and Sinlulh'tneously thel ewi-th a charge of under pressure t0 the working-cylinder, the air bei for 1 ;stantia11y asedes'clihed.

the

greatly in excess of combustion, andinto th e In gas-engines, the combi working and gaspunxp cy the quantity required finallyigniting the gas as 1t passes with the air and desire to secure byLetters I pressing air and storing cylinder; sub-- nation and arutially as described, of the A, it]1ecompressioncylinder v a, the gas-pump O, and the;

linders A. and

4. In gas-engines, the combination of the pump-operating rod n, the slotted link 8', having across-slog}, the eccentric o, and the governoi' E, connected to the as described, for operationas setforth."

5. In a gas-engine,- the combination, with the pump-operating rod 125%, of the operatingthe cross-$10134,- and the hand-lever c'i, connected to the rod, SllbStfil ltiall y as and for the purpose speeified.-

' GEORGE M. ALLEN.-

' Witnessesa W. WALKER,

O. SEnGWIcK. 

